SUBSCRIBE

I got 800$ flights for less than 80$…Here’s How:

Who doesn’t love a good deal?

It’s just that I find it so painful to pay full price for things, when I know I can wait for a sale or hack my way to a fraction of the price!

Airfare is no different!

This August I went to Alberta for two weeks and the flights via West Jet cost over 800$ CAD!! There was NO way I was going to pay that for domestic flights, so I decided to cash in a few hacks to get my flights cheaper.

Here’s what I did…

Step #1: Airmiles DREAM Reward Miles

The first hack is using Airmiles dream miles to pay for the flights (not including taxes).

As you can see, I had just over 7,000 miles which is equivalent to approx. two roundtrip domestic flights.

If I booked the flights myself on West Jet’s website, the total price for the dates and times I wanted would have been $819.39CAD.

I then booked the same flights through the Airmiles website by cashing in 3800 of my 7000 points, and was left with the taxes – a total of $139.13.

I paid the balance of $139.13 with my AMEX cash back credit card, where I earn 5% on every purchase (so essentially I would get $6.95 back off the purchase).

Step #2: American Express Cash Back Credit Card

Next, I used the cash back balance I had on my account from my AMEX credit card to pay off the balance I just charged to the card. I happened to have $63.09 cash back on my account at this time. I personally love this credit card and have been using it for years. Not only does the cash back add up pretty quick, but it comes with a comprehensive car rental insurance when you book a car rental on your card (which comes in super handy for the amount of travel I do).

The math: $139.13 – $63.09 =$76.04

THEN, if you deduct the 5% cash back I would be getting back from the initial $139.13 charge, the grand total for the round trip flights = $69.09

So there you have it! How I got $800+ round ticket flights for less than $70.

That is pretty awesome! You really have mastered how to travel in your budget and live your life! Congrats! Thank you for the dream miles tip.
Cheers,
Marnie

October 1, 2017 at 7:21 am

thepinkbackpack.com said:

Definitely look into it!! The cashback ones are a great option because they add up so quickly - I especially love amex because of the travel insurance they offer :)

October 1, 2017 at 4:05 am

Jaimee said:

That is some serious travel hacking girl, well done! I never really thought to use different credit cards because they'd have different rewards/cash back options. Good idea! Will definitely be looking into this as I'm a newbie with the airmiles card I have so I won't be getting any huge deals with THAT anytime soon! ;)

October 1, 2017 at 4:00 am

thepinkbackpack.com said:

Definitely look into it! It's fairly easy to do and makes a huge difference as you can see :)

October 1, 2017 at 3:59 am

Sara said:

I always wonder how people do this kind of thing. I needed to really start reaping the rewards of my points card. Looking into what my card gets me now! Thank you!